BROADFOOT o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-01-10 published
The castle lights are growing dim
Canadian television icon made his mark as star of The Hilarious
House of Frightenstein
By John McKAY Canadian Press Friday, January 10, 2003, Page R11
Billy VAN, the diminutive, manic comic actor who starred in Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation-Television's Nightcap in the 1960s and
The Hilarious House of Frightenstein in the seventies, died Wednesday.
He was 68.
Mr. VAN, who had been battling cancer for about a year and had
a triple heart bypass in 1998, died at Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital,
said his former wife, Claudia
CONVERSE.
While a familiar fixture on Canadian television for decades,
he also worked in the United States on variety shows such as
The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, The Ray Stevens Show and The Bobby
Vinton Show.
Mr. VAN even gained fame for the Colt .45 beer commercials he
made for 15 years and for which he won a Clio Award.
But he invariably returned to Toronto in shows like The Party
Game, Bizarre with John Byner, The Hudson Brothers Razzle DAzzle
Show and Bits and Bytes.
His wife, Susan, said that while he had opportunities in the
U.S., Mr. VAN had no regrets about staying in Canada.
"He was quite happy when he came back," she said. "He had the
taste of the life down there and [said] 'Okay, that's fine, I'd
rather be at home.' "
Ms. CONVERSE agreed that Mr.
VAN had been happy with his career
and had worked non-stop until his heart bypass.
"I don't know of many Canadians that stay in Canada who get their
full recognition," she said. "When he went to the States, definitely.
But there isn't a star system in Canada so it's kind of difficult."
Mr. VAN -- then Billy
VANEVERA -- went into show business at
the age of 12 and back in the 1950s, he and his four musically
inclined brothers formed a singing group that toured Canada and
Europe. Most also went on to adult careers in show business.
After his heart surgery, Mr.
VAN was semi-retired but continued
to do voiceover work for commercials and animated programs. His
last major on-screen role was as Les the trainer in the television
hockey movie Net Worth in 1995.
Mr. VAN and long-time colleagues Dave
BROADFOOT and Jack
DUFFY
made appearances in recent years to support the fledgling Canadian
Comedy Awards.
"I'm all for that enthusiasm," Mr.
VAN said about the awards
launch in 2000.
"Billy was one of my closest Friends," said Mr.
DUFFY, who added
that he called Mr.
VAN several times a week after he became ill.
"We were sort of buddies under the skin. We got to know each
other really well at Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and then
we worked on Party Game together for a number of years. He was
a close friend and I will miss him very much."
Mr. DUFFY said a lot of doors opened for Mr.
VAN when he did
The Sonny and Cher Show,but he was happy to come home to his native
Toronto, where he was born in 1934.
"He came back and we were glad to have him back."
Entertainer Dinah
CHRISTIE, with whom Mr.
VAN worked on The Party
Game for a decade, called him a brave and glorious person.
"He would take on anything and was . . . a totally gracious guy,"
she said. "I'm just going to miss him like we all are going to
miss him. He soldiered through this bloody cancer thing so wonderfully.
I knew he was just trying to get through Christmas."
Ms. CHRISTIE said Mr.
VAN had some hideous experiences in the
U.S. He had seen a man shot to death next to him in a New York
hotel, and had his Los Angeles home broken into twice.
"He never felt safe there. And he was such a Canadian that he
always felt safe here."
Mr. VAN's picture is on the Canadian Comedy Wall of Fame at the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast Centre in Toronto,
along with those of Al
WAXMAN,
Wayne and Shuster and Don
HARRON.
TheHilariousHouse of Frightenstein starred Vincent
PRICE, with
Mr. VAN as host and a variety of characters, including The Count,
a vampire who preferred pizza to blood and who wore tennis shoes
as well as a cape. The hour-long episodes were taped at Hamilton's
CHCH-Television and are still seen in syndication around the
world.
Nightcap was a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation satirical show
that predated Saturday Night Live by a dozen years. Its cast
included Al
HAMEL and Guido
BASSO and his orchestra.
Mr. VAN leaves his wife, Susan, and two daughters from previous
marriages, Tracy and Robyn.
A private funeral will be held in Toronto on Monday.
Billy VAN, actor and entertainer; born in Toronto in 1934; died
in Toronto on January 8, 2003.

BROADHEAD o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-03-26 published
BROADHEAD,
William ''Bill'' David
Died in the early hours of the morning, on March 24, 2003 at
St. Michael's Hospital. In his 87th year, David's health had
been failing for some time. It was his greatest wish to depart
peacefully. Predeceased by his first wife
Kathleen (née
MURRAY)
and by his son Paul. David will be greatly missed by his second
wife, Hazel
LOIS and by his three children Anne (Joseph,) Nora
ANDERSON
(Robert) and
John
(Ana.) Also survived by his eight
grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Dear brother to
Marjory GEORGE of Chatham, Ontario. David, a graduate of McMaster
University, was the last of the great Dickensians, having read
most of the great classics. He had a particular fondness for
Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy. He wrote short stories and
at the age of 70, continued to take courses at U. of T. Up until
the end of his life, David took great pleasure in continuing
to write fiction. Friends may call the Rosar-Morrison Funeral
Home and Chapel, 467 Sherbourne Street (South of Wellesley Street)
on Wednesday, from 3-5 and 7-9 p.m. A funeral Mass will be celebrated
on Thursday March 27, at 10: 30 a.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes Church
(Sherbourne and Earl Street). Cremation to follow. In lieu of flowers,
donations in David's name to either Covenant House or Interval
House would be greatly appreciated.
''Dad was a man of honour and integrity. His sense of humour
was a great delight to all who met him.''

BROCK o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-04-26 published
COLTHART,
JohnMarshall M.D.
Born March 31, 1916 in Rodney, Ontario, died April 24, 2003 in
Uxbridge, Ontario. Graduate University of Western Ontario Medicine
'42, Major in Royal Canadian Army Medical Corp World War 2 overseas,
family physician in East York 1946-1954, industrial physician
with Bell Canada in Toronto 1954-1965, Western Electric/American
Telephone and Telegraph in Chicago 1965-1969, Xerox in Rochester,
New York 1969-1980 before retiring to Beaverton, Ontario and
Clearwater, Florida. John was predeceased by his parents, James
and Jeanie
(THOMPSON/THOMSON/TOMPSON/TOMSON)
COLTHART, and his wife, Shirley Mae
(FITCH)
M.D., University of Western Ontario Medicine '42. Father (father-in-law)
of Jim of San Diego, California, Doctors Carol (Bob)
BROCK in North
York,Ontario,Peggy (Bob)
McCALLA in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Alice
(Rick) DANIEL in Calgary, Alberta and Joan (Dave)
ROBERTSON in
Shortsville, New York; grandfather of Christie
COLTHART, Lisa
(Andrew) SCHNEPPENHEIM, John Michael
COLTHART, Mike
BROCK, Heather
(Tom) WHEELER, Catherine
BROCK, Andy
McCALLA, Matt (Jen)
McCALLA,
Jen (Dan) BEDETTE,
JamesROBERTSON, Shirley and Sarah
DANIEL
and great-grandfather of Christie's son, Kyle
BURGESS. He was
loved, respected and treasured by family, Friends and patients
alike. A celebration of his life will be held at Markham Bible
Chapel, 50 Cairns Drive, Markham, Ontario, west of McGowan Road,
south from 16th Avenue, on Monday, May 5, 2003 at 2: 00 p.m. In
remembrance, donations can be made to the Shirley M. Colthart
Fund (c/o John P. Robarts Research Institute, P.O. Box 5015,
London, Ontario N6A 5K8), or the Trans-Canada Trail Foundation
or a charity of your choice. Arrangements by Mangan Funeral Home,
Beaverton, Ontario (705) 426-5777.

BROCK o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-08-19 published
LEWIS,
Paul
Paul Lewis, age 90, died suddenly on Saturday, August 16, 2003
in Pembroke, Ontario. Beloved husband of Sarah Boone
LEWIS (nee
SMITH) and devoted father to Christine
LEWIS
(GaryCHANG;) Marion
LEWIS
(BillieBROCK;) Alan
LEWIS (Kerry
CALVERT.) Grandfather
to Georgia
BARKER,
RobertCHANG and Ray
LEWIS. Predeceased by
sister Mary
THOMPSON/THOMSON/TOMPSON/TOMSON.
Brother-in-law to Davis (Catherine)
SMITH
of Sarnia Ontario; uncle to Ian
THOMPSON/THOMSON/TOMPSON/TOMSON, the late Scott
SMITH,
and Grant, Sally Ross
SMITH and Price
SMITH.
Paul was born in
Toronto to Marion and Thomas
LEWIS. He lived a full and varied
life working as a chemical engineer on three continents. Raising
his family in Deep River, Ontario, he retired from the Atomic
Energy of Canada to Beachburg, Ontario where he continued his
interest in gardening and his love of nature. A reception to
celebrate his life for family and Friends will be held at Supples
Landing Retirement Home in Pembroke on Friday August 22 at 2: 00.
In lieu of flowers, a donation to your favourite charity would
be appreciated.

BROCK o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-10-13 published
DiedThisDay -- Isaac
BROCK, 1812
Monday, October 13, 2003 - Page R7
Army officer and colonial administrator born on October 6, 1769,
at St. Peter Port, Guernsey; joined British Army at 15; 1802,
posted to Canada with 49th Foot Regiment; 1811, promoted major-general
made acting lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada; prepared colony
for impending war against U.S.; August 16, 1812, invaded U.S.
and captured Detroit; October 13, American forces crossed Niagara
River; sent for reinforcements and led a bold attack to drive
the invaders back; shot in wrist and then heart while leading
second charge; reinforcements forced enemy surrender.

BROCKHOUSE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-10-16 published
Hamilton physicist won Nobel Prize
Thursday, October 16, 2003 - Page R11
Hamilton, Ontario -- Nobel Prize-winning Canadian physicist Dr.
Bertram BROCKHOUSE has died at 85. Professor emeritus at McMaster
University, he was a member of the Order of Canada and the only
Canadian Nobel laureate who was born, educated and completed
his life's work in this country.
Dr. BROCKHOUSE, one of just 14 Canadian winners of the Nobel
Prize, won the award for his work in neutron scattering -- a
field he invented. In the early 1950s, while working as a researcher
for the Canada Atomic Energy Project at Chalk River, Ontario,
Dr. BROCKHOUSE developed a device that used a neutron beam to
probe solid materials at the atomic level. It was science's first
glimpse into what holds solid materials together.
Dr. BROCKHOUSE, who died on Monday, is survived by his wife
Doris
and six children. Canadian Press

BROCKHOUSE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-10-17 published
A true hero of Canadian science
Professor who won 1994 Nobel Prize didn't think his work was
very important but had to change his mind after he got award
By Allison
LAWLOR,
Special to The Globe and Mail Friday, October
17, 2003 - Page R13
Canadian physicist Bertram
BROCKHOUSE once likened winning the
Nobel Prize to winning the Stanley Cup.
Dr. BROCKHOUSE, who shared the Nobel Prize in physics in 1994
for his work developing a technique to measure the atomic structure
of matter, died on Monday in a Hamilton hospital. He was 85.
After the prize announcement, the visibly abashed emeritus professor
of physics at McMaster University told reporters in Hamilton
that when the Swedish Academy of Science telephoned him at 6: 45
a.m. his reaction was "enormous astonishment."
"It came as a complete surprise," he said. "I would have otherwise
been dressed and ready."
He said at the time he was unaware he had been nominated.
Aside from his own personal achievement, Dr.
BROCKHOUSE is the
only Canadian Nobel laureate who was born, educated and completed
his life's work in this country.
Dr. BROCKHOUSE shared his Nobel prize with Clifford
SHULL, a
former professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
who died in 2001 at the age of 85. They were honoured for research
conducted at the first nuclear reactors in Canada and the United
States as early as the 1940s and 1950s.
In announcing the prize, the Royal Swedish Academy said "Clifford
SHULL helped answer the question of where atoms 'are' and Bertram
N. BROCKHOUSE the question of what atoms 'do.'
Much of Dr.
BROCKHOUSE's award-winning work was carried on at
the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories, a facility operated by
what is now called Atomic Energy of Canada, where he was a researcher
from 1950 until 1962. The original Chalk River reactor, located
190 kilometres northwest of Ottawa, drew curious scientists from
around the globe in the 1950s. Dr.
BROCKHOUSE used the neutron
beams from the nuclear reactors to probe materials at the atomic
level. Using a device he built for his research, known as the
triple-axis neutron spectrometer, he is recognized for improving
the understanding of the way neutrons bounce off atomic nuclei.
His triple-axis neutron spectrometer is still used around the
world and parts of the original device he built are still at
ChalkRiver, said Dr. Bruce
GAULIN, who holds the Brockhouse
Chair in the physics of materials at McMaster.
Dr. BROCKHOUSE worked with simple materials like aluminum and
steel. Today the technique he developed, known as neutron scattering,
is used in widely differing areas such as the study of superconductors,
elastic properties of polymers and virus structure.
Scientists had previously relied on radiation from devices like
X-rays to look at the atomic structure of matter. "He is a heroic
figure," Dr.
GAULIN said.
Described as competitive in his scientific endeavours, Dr.
BROCKHOUSE
didn't want to miss a single minute. A colleague at Chalk River
once asked him why he worked so hard. "Every minute of every
day is unique," he replied. "And once that minute is gone, it
is lost forever."
While he had little spare time during his years at Chalk River,
he did use opportunities to take part in a number of amateur
dramatic productions, including three operettas. A great lover
of music, particularly for the works of Gilbert and Sullivan,
Dr. BROCKHOUSE was known for loudly singing excerpts while working
on experiments.
Bertram Neville
BROCKHOUSE was born on July 15, 1918, in Lethbridge,
Alberta. "My first memories are of a farm near Milk River where
I lived with my mother and father and my sister, Alice Evelyn,
and a variety of farm and domestic animals," he wrote in an autobiographical
sketch for the academy.
His parents Israel Bertram
BROCKHOUSE and Mable Emily
(NEVILLE)
BROCKHOUSE had two other children. One son died in infancy and
another went on to become a railroad civil engineer. The family
moved to Vancouver while Dr.
BROCKHOUSE was still a young boy.
He completed high school in 1935 and instead of going to university
went to work as a laboratory assistant and then as a radio repairman.
When the Second World War came along he used his radio skills
as an electronics technician in the Royal Canadian Navy. He spent
some months at sea, but most of his war years were spent servicing
sonar equipment at a shore base.
After the war, he returned to Vancouver to attend university
at the University of British Columbia. He later went to the University
of Toronto where he completed his PhD in 1950 with a lofty thesis
entitled "The Effect of Stress and Temperature upon the Magnetic
Properties of Ferromagnetic Materials".
In 1962, Dr.
BROCKHOUSE joined the department of physics at McMaster
University and remained there until his retirement in 1984. He
and his wife Doris raised their six children in Ancaster, a small
community outside Hamilton, in a house they occupied for close
to 40 years.
At the university, Dr.
BROCKHOUSE was highly regarded as a professor
known for having high expectations of his students and for most
often being deep in thought.
"You had the sense you were in the presence of an unusual person,"
said Dr. Tom
TIMUSK, an emeritus professor of physics and astronomy
at McMaster.
Dr. TIMUSK, who shared an office with Dr.
BROCKHOUSE at McMaster
for some time, said his colleague jokingly told students after
he won the Nobel Prize that he didn't think his work was very
important but that had to change his mind after he got the award.
"I think he genuinely believed that what he did was good work,
but not so important," Dr.
GAULIN said.
Dr. BROCKHOUSE likened himself to an explorer who woke up on
any given morning not knowing exactly what he was going to do,
except follow some vague instinct about what should be explored
next.
He also liked to say that scientists were really just mapmakers
with a greater eye for detail. "The metaphor that I think of
is that of the atlas you're all familiar with. What we work on
in basic science is just a bigger atlas, with places and objects
and so on that are not as familiar."
Dr. BROCKHOUSE leaves his wife, children Ann, Gordon, Ian, Beth,
Charles and James, and 10 grandchildren.

BROCKIE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-07-26 published
SWINDELL,
GeraldS.
Passed away peacefully at the Veterans' Wing of Sunnybrook and
Women's College Health Sciences Centre in Toronto on July 17,
2003 at the age of 88. Gerry was predeceased by his first wife,
Jean WARRINGTON, in 1947, and by his second wife of more than
40 years, Bettie
BROCKIE, in 1990, and by his sister Elaine,
brother Charles and son-law Andy
CLARK. He is survived by his
three children, Sharon, Gerry and Carol, his granddaughter Christine
MAKI, his sisters Geraldine
REES and Marie
SMITH, his brothers-in-law
Bill BROCKIE and Don
SMITH and several nieces and nephews and
their families.
Although Gerry was born in Grenfell, Saskatchewan and died in
Toronto, he spent most of his life in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A graduate
of the University of Manitoba, Gerry spent his entire business
career with Wood Gundy, joining the firm in 1938 and retiring
as a Vice President and Director in 1974. During the Second World
War he served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Navy. He
was an active and enthusiastic member of the Manitoba Club and
served as its President in 1975 and 1976. He was also the Chairman
of the Board of the Winnipeg Stock Exchange from 1969 to 1972
and was active throughout his business career with a number of
charitable organizations.
For relaxation he enjoyed the company of his wife and their many
good Friends, frequent dinners at Rae and Jerry's, annual trips
to Camelback Inn in Scottsdale, Arizona, golf at the St. Charles
Country Club and billiards at the Manitoba Club. Unfortunately,
his retirement years were marred by the debilitating effects
of Paget's Disease and the untimely death of his beloved wife
Bettie. Our thanks to the staff at Deer Lodge Hospital Veterans'
Wing and
We Care in Winnipeg and at Sunnybrook K Wing and Selectcare
in Toronto for all their help in his final years. Although he
moved to Toronto in 1997 to be closer to his children, his heart
always remained in Winnipeg. He returns there now. A graveside
service will be held at Garry Memorial Park, 1291 McGillivray
Blvd., Winnipeg on Tuesday, July 29th at 2: 30 p.m. followed by
a reception at the on site funeral home. In lieu of flowers,
donations to a charity of choice would be greatly appreciated.

BRODERICK o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-05-31 published
BARR, The Honourable Mr. Justice John Roderick (Rod), Q.C., L.L.D.
Born in Toronto on September 9, 1921, died in St. Catharines,
Ontario May 30, 2003. Devoted and loving husband to the late
Rhoda Marshall
BARR.
Predeceased by infant daughter Jane. Dearly
loved by his son Peter, daughter Elizabeth and their spouses,
Sharon BRODERICK and Stephen
PERRY.
Adoring grandfather to John
BARR and Nicholas, James and Christopher
PERRY.
Brother and great
friend of his sisters, Margaret
RHAMEY and the late Isabelle
MARSH. As dear as a brother to sisters-in-law, Helen
CAUGHEY
and Nellie
MARSHALL.
Rod was grateful for a full and happy life. He grew up in Hamilton,
Ontario and enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force at the outset
of World War 2. Rod first served as a Flight Instructor in Trenton,
Ontario, where he met his future wife Nursing Sister Rhoda
MARSHALL.
Obtaining the rank of Flight Lieutenant, he served in 426 Squadron
as a pilot with Bomber Command at Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire.
At the end of the war, Rod studied law at Osgoode Hall Law School
in Toronto and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1948. At that
time, he and Rhoda established their home in St. Catharines where
he enjoyed many years practicing civil litigation and where as
a trial lawyer he earned the respect of his colleagues. Rod served
as a Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada and was a member
of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the Advocates Society.
He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ontario, Trial Division
in 1983.
Rod received an Honourary Doctorate of Laws from Brock University.
He was an active member of the St. Catharines Flying Club and
proud member of the St. Catharines Rowing Club. He took up sculling
at the age of 52 and participated in Masters Rowing in Canada
and the United States.
He supported a large range of charities. No one less fortunate
was ever turned away. Rod's insight and kindness was matched
only by his wonderful, inimitable sense of humour. Above all,
he loved and was loved by his family.
The family is deeply grateful to Dr. R.
MacKETT, Dr. F.
MacKAY,
Dr. J. WRIGHT,
Dr.FERNANDES and Dr. W.
GOLDBERG, and to gentle
caregivers Virgie
PEREZ,
Marylou and Risa.
''Pray for me, and I will for thee,
that we may merrily meet in heaven.''
The family will receive Friends at the Hulse and English Funeral
Home, 75 Church Street, St. Catharines, on Sunday, June 1, from
7-9 p.m. and Monday, June 2, from 7-9 p.m. A funeral service
will be held at Knox Presbyterian Church, 51 Church Street, St.
Catharines, on Tuesday, June 3, 2003 at 11 a.m. A service will
also be held in St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Amherst Island,
on Wednesday, June 4, 2003, at 3 p.m. Interment to follow.
Donations may be made in Rod's memory to the Heart and Stroke
Foundation or Knox Presbyterian Church.

BRODEUR o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-06-23 published
Hockey coach who changed the game
'Captain Video' introduced new teaching tools in more than 25
years with the National Hockey League
By William
HOUSTONMonday,June 23, 2003 - Page R5
The morning after Roger
NEILSON was fired from his first of seven
head coaching jobs in the National Hockey League, he returned
to his office at Maple Leaf Gardens.
He viewed and edited the videotape of the Toronto Maple Leafs'
loss to the Montreal Canadiens the night before. When a replacement
didn't show up, he put the Leafs through a practice. Later, he
was asked by a reporter why he was still hanging around.
"Somebody had to run the practice," he said. "Whoever comes in
will have to look at the tapes."
The next day, Mr.
NEILSON was reinstated when the club could
not find a replacement, but Maple Leafs owner Harold
BALLARD,
always looking for publicity, wanted to make his return behind
the bench a surprise. Mr.
BALLARD tried to talk him into wearing
a ski mask or bag over his head, and then dramatically throwing
it off at the start of the game. Numbed by the three-day ordeal
of not knowing his status in the organization, Mr.
NEILSON almost
agreed, but ultimately declined.
"He hated that story," said Jim
GREGORY, who hired Mr.
NEILSON
to coach the Leafs in 1977 and was fired along with the coach
at the end of the 1978-79 season. "I hated that story."
The incident reflected poorly on Mr.
BALLARD, but in a smaller
way it helped create the image of Mr.
NEILSON we have today,
that of a coach who put the team ahead of his ego, who was loyal
to his players and dedicated to his job.
Mr. NEILSON, who died Saturday after a long battle with cancer,
will be remembered not just as a man who loved hockey, but also
as a skilled strategist and innovator. He stressed defensive
play and systems, and also physical fitness. In Toronto, he was
given the nickname "Captain Video," because he was among the
first to use videotape to instruct his players and prepare for
games.
When Mr. NEILSON, a soft-spoken man famous for his dry sense
of humour, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame last year,
he was asked about the late, controversial Leafs owner.
"I'm sure he's looking up rather than down," he said, with a
smile, before saying Mr.
BALLARD did some "good things for hockey."
Mr. NEILSON was also named to the Order of Canada in January.
Roger Paul
NEILSON was born in Toronto on June 16, 1934, and
went as far as Junior B hockey as a player. While earning a degree
at McMaster University in Hamilton, he started coaching kids
baseball and hockey.
After graduating, he taught high school in Toronto and his passion
by then was coaching. In hockey, he won Toronto and provincial
titles at different levels. In 10 years, his Metro Toronto midget
baseball teams won nine championships, once defeating a team
that included pitcher Ken
DRYDEN, who would later become a Hall
of Fame goaltender with the Montreal Canadiens.
Mr. NEILSON scouted for the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario
Major Junior Hockey League before moving to Peterborough in 1966
to coach the team. During his 10 years behind the bench, the
Petes never finished below third place and won the league championship
once.
By the time Mr.
NEILSON moved to the National Hockey League to
coach the Leafs in 1977, his reputation for creativity and also
mischief was firmly established. In baseball, he used, at least
once, a routine involving a peeled apple, in which the catcher
threw what appeared to be the ball wildly over the third baseman,
prompting the runner to race home. As the apple lay in the outfield,
the catcher met the runner at home plate with the real baseball
in his glove.
Always looking for a loophole in the rules, Mr.
NEILSON's ploys
instigated rule changes in hockey. On penalty shots against his
team, he used Ron
STACKHOUSE, a big defenceman, instead of a
goalie. Mr.
STACKHOUSE would charge out of the net and cause
the shooter to flub his shot. The rule was subsequently changed
to require the goalie to stay in his crease.
Over an National Hockey League career that lasted more than 25
years, Mr.
NEILSON holds the record for most teams coached (seven.)
He also held four assistant coaching positions. But he never
won the Stanley Cup. He didn't coach great teams. He seemed to
enjoy the challenge of taking an average group of players, making
them into a solid, defensive unit, and seeing them succeed.
In his first year with the Leafs, he moulded a previously undisciplined
group of players into a strong unit that upset the New York Islanders
in the 1978 playoffs.
In 1982, Mr.
NEILSON's playoff success with the Vancouver Canucks
underscored his skill as a tactician and manipulator.
WhenCanuck head coach Harry
NEALE was suspended late in the
season, Mr.
NEILSON, his assistant, took over. The Canucks weren't
expected to advance past the first round of the playoffs. But
backed by strong goaltending from Richard
BRODEUR, they defeated
the Calgary Flames and then the Los Angeles Kings to advance
to the semi-finals against Chicago.
The Canucks won the first game, but with Chicago leading 4-1
late in the second game, Mr.
NEILSON, unhappy with the officiating,
waved a white towel from the bench, as if to surrender to the
referee. He was fined for the demonstration, but the white towel
became a symbol of home-fan solidarity. In the Stanley Cup final,
the Canucks were swept by the powerhouse Islanders.
In addition to Toronto and Vancouver, Mr.
NEILSON's journey through
the National Hockey League consisted of head coaching jobs with
the Buffalo Sabres, the Kings, New York Rangers, Florida Panthers
and Philadelphia Flyers. He worked as a co-coach in Chicago,
and as an assistant coach with the Sabres, St. Louis Blues and
Ottawa Senators.
Ottawa, where he was hired in 2000, was his final destination.
In the 2001-02 season, head coach Jacques
MARTIN stepped down
for the final two games of the regular season to allow Mr.
NEILSON
to coach his 1,000th regular-season game.
Frank ORR, who covered hockey for The Toronto Star for more than
30 years, said, in 2002, "Roger is one of the few people I've
met in any line of work who never had a bad word to say about
anybody."

BRODIE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-02-22 published
BRODIE,
VioletCunningham
On February 20, 2003 at Thompson House in her 97th year. Beloved
wife of the late James M.
BRODIE and dear mother of Patricia
BRODIE.
With thanks to family, Friends and staff at Thompson
House for their care and support. A Memorial Service will be
held on Monday, February 24th, 1: 30 p.m. at Eglinton-St. George's
United Church, 35 Lytton Blvd. (at Duplex Ave.). In lieu of flowers,
a memorial donation to Thompson House, Don Mills Foundation,
1 Overland Drive, Toronto M3C 2C34 or to the charity of choice
would be appreciated.

BRODIE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-03-08 published
KELK,
MargaretEmma (née
POPE)
Peacefully on February 26, 2003, in her 86th year, at Dufferin
Oaks Nursing Home in Shelburne, Ontario. Dear wife of the late
Gordon Henry
KELK.
Beloved mother of Judith
BRODIE of Grand Cayman
and Jayne STANLEY of Shelburne. Loving sister of Mary Elaine
UNWIN of Vancouver, British Columbia. Sadly missed by five grandchildren
and six great-grandchildren. Thanks to the staff of Dufferin
Oaks Nursing Home for their kind and patient care over the past
eleven years. Cremation has taken care. A small family service
was held in Shelburne. Donations to the Alzheimer Society would
be appreciated by the family.

BROMAGE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-11-28 published
BROMAGE,
MargaretJean (née
PARKINSON)
Williston - Margaret Jean
BROMAGE, 72, died suddenly on Friday
November 21, 2003 at home in Williston. Meg was born in Country
Durham,England on October 3, 1931 to the late Robert
PARKINSON
and Mary Jane
(STIRLING.)
She was married in 1969 to Professor
Philip R. BROMAGE.
Together they led a full and productive life.
Their medical work took them to Montreal, North Carolina, Colorado,
Riyadh Saudi Arabia and Delaware. They retired to Montgomery,
Vermont.Survivors include a stepson, Richard
BROMAGE and his
wife Angela in England, stepdaughters Susan
BROMAGE in England
and Jennifer
BROMAGE and her husband John
LARMER in Ontario Canada
four grandchildren Julia, Maria-Suzie, James and Laura. She also
leaves a brother Robert
PARKINSON and sisters Betty
LANGSTAFF
and Dorothy
JELLY as well as nieces and nephews, all in England.
Meg was a fun-loving generous person who left a mark on everyone
she touched. She loved entertaining, music and people. Meg was
powerful force in aiding her husband's medical publications.
Meg will be sadly missed by her husband, Philip, family and Friends.
Funeral will be privately arranged by the family. Arrangements
are in the care of the Ready Funeral Home, South Chapel, 261
Shelburne Rd, Burlington Vermont.

BRONSTON o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-09-08 published
BRONSTON,
CeciliaAnne -- Funeral services for Cecilia Anne
BRONSTON
of Tyler, Texas will be held 3 p.m. Monday, September 8, 2003
at the Christ Episcopal Church. Burial will be in Blairgowrie
Cemetery in Perthshire, Scotland. Mrs.
BRONSTON died on September
4, 2003 in Tyler, Texas. She was born November 5, 1962 in Salisbury,
South Rhodesia. Services are under the direction of Burks Walker
Tippit Funeral Directors, Tyler, Texas.

BROOK o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-11-05 published
BLOCK,
MatthewAlexander
Tragically died of injuries sustained when struck by a car on
Hallowe'en evening. Matthew passed away peacefully with his family
by his side at the McMaster Medical Centre on Saturday, November
1, 2003. He was 12 years old.
Matthew BLOCK
(Cambridge,Ontario) is the cherished
son of Kelly
(née FLOOD) and Robert
BROOK, dear brother of Stephen, Kevin,
Andrew, Caitlin and Jenny, friend of Brent, and precious grand_son
of Ellen and Denis
CASE,
Dennis and Patricia
FLOOD, Stanley and
Evelyn BROOK. He will also be sadly missed by his great aunts
and uncles.
Loved nephew of Sheryl
FLOOD and Douglas
RITCHIE,
ChristopherCASE,
Leslie (née
CASE) and Rodney
GIEBLER, Debbie and Jerry
and Dave and Denise; and cousins Nicole and Alexander. Special
friend of Keith, Lena, Zeo and Matthew
BENNETT;
Ted and Joe
GIBBONS
Doreen BROWN and Lloyd
STEWARD/STEWART/STUART; and all of his many Friends and
their families.
Matthew was a student at St. Joseph's School in Cambridge, and
he enjoyed playing left wing with Hespler Minor Hockey. Matthew
was also an aspiring chef who shared his passion for cooking
with all who knew him.
We wish to thank all those who have given us their love and support,
and we offer our heartfelt gratitude to the staff at Cambridge
Memorial Hospital, McMaster Medical Centre, and specifically
Dr. Holly SMITH,
NancyFRAM, and Chaplin Steve. We were comforted
to know that Matthew gave the gift of life to seven families
through organ donation.
Our dear Matthew will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
It was a great joy and honour to have shared 12 years with him.
Friends will be received on Tuesday and Wednesday from 6: 00-9:00
p.m. at Littles Funeral Home and Cremation Centre, 223 Main Street
East, Cambridge www.funeralscanada.com Mass of Christian Burial
will be celebrated at St. Clements R.C. Church, 745 Duke Street,
Cambridge on Thursday, November 6th at 10: 00 a.m. Cremation to
follow. In memory of Matthew, donations would be appreciated
to ''Kids Can Play'' and to the school that he loved, St. Joseph's
in Preston, for any educational needs.

BROOKS o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-05-12 published
JOHNSON,
EleanorJean, née
CAMPBELL (October 17, 1915 - May 9,
died peacefully after 3 weeks of acute illness. She grew up in
Ottawa, travelled and worked in Canada and then in Washington
as part of the war effort. Inspired by the work of the Saint John
Ambulance, she joined as a volunteer and went to England in 1945
where she met her beloved Arthur Norman
JOHNSON, her lifetime
partner, whom she married in 1946. She was a community volunteer
her whole life. For 35 years she worked with High Horizons, an
organization she credits with her continued good health through
years of battling a variety of conditions. She was a bird watcher,
cottage lover, trusted friend to many people and an adored wife,
mother, grandmother and great-grand-mother. The daughter of the
late Ida M.
CAMPBELL and Donald L.
CAMPBELL, she is survived
by 'Johnny'
JOHNSON, her husband, her 2 daughters Jennifer
BROOKS
and Barbara
THOMAS, her sons-in-law Bruce
BROOKS and D'Arcy
MARTIN,
her grandchildren Karen
ELLIS,
DebbieFAULDS, Janette
THOMAS
and Geoff BROOKS, and their partners Shawn
ELLIS,
SeanFAULDS,
Sean KONDRA and Thach-Thao
PHAN.
Her great grandchildren are
Devon and Shanice
ELLIS.
Friends are invited to meet the family
at the West Chapel of Hulse, Playfair and McGarry, 150 Woodroffe
Avenue at Richmond Road on Tuesday May 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. and
to celebrate her life at a Memorial Service to be held in the
Chapel on Wednesday May 14 at 2 p.m. The Chapel is wheelchair
accessible. In lieu of flowers donations in her name would be
welcomed at High Horizons, c/o Mackay United Church, 39 Dufferin
Avenue, Ottawa, K1M 2H3.

BROPHY o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-08-19 published
MYNARSKI's man
FRIDAY
Knocked unconscious, the young bomb aimer was saved when his
flight engineer pushed him out of their stricken Lancaster
By Tom HAWTHORNSpecial to The Globe and Mail Tuesday, August
19, 2003 - Page R7
Victoria -- A Second World War bomb aimer who survived an ill-fated
mission during which his friend Andrew
MYNARSKI was later awarded
a posthumous Victoria Cross for trying the save a trapped fellow
crewman has died. Jack
FRIDAY, who spent his peacetime career
with Air Canada, died in Thunder Bay.
Mr. MYNARSKI's sacrifice awed a generation of children who learned
of it in their school readers. Mr.
FRIDAY was often asked to
recount what happened aboard his doomed Lancaster as it burned
over France. What many did not realize was that Mr.
FRIDAY only
learned the details of Mr.
MYNARSKI's heroism after the end of
the war.
On June 12, 1944, his Royal Canadian Air Force crew was assigned
to bomb the railroad marshalling yards at Cambrai. The mission
was similar to others in recent days, as No. 419 (Moose) Squadron
attacked German reinforcements being rushed forward to repel
Allied forces in Normandy.
Six days earlier, the crew had bombed coastal guns at Longues
in the early-morning hours before the invasion fleet landed on
D-Day. The Cambrai target -- their 13th mission -- was to be
attacked on in the early morning hours of June 13. Later, superstitious
survivors would speak of that coincidence as a missed omen.
Their Lancaster lifted off the runway at Middleton St. George
in Yorkshire at 9: 44 p.m. on June 12. After crossing the English
Channel, the bomber was coned -- caught in searchlights -- but
the pilot, Flying Officer Arthur DE
BREYNE, managed to manoeuvre
his craft out of the dreaded lights.
The reprieve did not last long.
Rear gunner Patrick
BROPHY, who sat in an isolated compartment
at the rear of the aircraft, spotted an enemy fighter below.
"Bogey astern! Six o'clock!" he shouted into the intercom, just
before a Junkers 88 attacked.
Mr. DE BREYNE threw the bomber into an evasive corkscrew. In
an instant, though, his plane was rocked by three explosions.
Both port engines were knocked out and the wing set afire. A
hydraulic line in the fuselage had also been severed and the
midsection of the plane was burning.
The pilot ordered the crew to evacuate as he struggled to prevent
the Lancaster from going into a dive. Mr.
FRIDAY's duty as bomb
aimer was to release the escape hatch. As he did so, the rushing
wind whipped the steel door open, striking him above the right
eye.
Flight engineer Roy
VIGARS was the first among the other crew
to clamber to the hatch.
"I made my way down to the bomb-aimer's position and found Jack
FRIDAY slumped on the floor, unconscious," Mr.
VIGARS told Bette
PAGE for her 1989 book, Mynarski's Lanc. "I rolled him over,
clipped on his parachute pack, and slid him over to the escape
hatch and dropped him through the opening while holding on to
the ripcord."
The act was risky, as the parachute could have wrapped around
the craft's tail wheel. Mr.
VIGARS saw that Mr.
FRIDAY's parachute
had opened clear of the bomber. He then jumped, followed by wireless
operator James
KELLY, navigator Robert
BODIE and the pilot, who
had recovered control of the bomber and set it on a gentle descent.
Unknown to those men, a terrible drama was being played out at
the rear of the flaming craft.
As Warrant Officer
MYNARSKI prepared to jump, he looked back
to see that Flying Officer Patrick
BROPHY was still at his rear-gunner's
position.
Mr. MYNARSKI, the mid-upper gunner, crawled through the burning
fuselage, his uniform and parachute catching fire. Mr.
BROPHY
was trapped in his seat and the men struggled desperately to
free him.
Finally, Mr.
BROPHY told Mr.
MYNARSKI to jump without him.
Mr. MYNARSKI crawled back through the fire, stood at the door,
saluted his doomed comrade, and leapt into the inky sky with
his uniform and parachute in flames.
Aboard the Lancaster, Mr.
BROPHY prepared for certain death.
Some miles away, Mr.
FRIDAY floated unconscious to earth by parachute,
landing near a chateau at Hedauville. A pair of farm workers
found him in a vineyard the next morning. He was taken to a local
doctor who feared reprisals for treating an Allied airman. The
injured man was turned over to the Germans.
Mr. FRIDAY finally regained consciousness on June 17, wakening
in a prison cell in Amiens. He feared he had lost his eye. A
fellow prisoner peeked beneath Mr.
FRIDAY's bandages and saw
that a flap of skin was blocking his vision. The wound had not
been stitched.
Mr. FRIDAY was reunited with Mr.
VIGARS as their captors prepared
to transport prisoners to Germany.
The pair were sent to an interrogation centre near Frankfurt,
before being transferred to Stalag Luft 7 at Bankau, outside
Breslau (now Wroclaw), in Silesia near Poland.
The men were separated again on January 18, 1945, as the Germans
marched prisoners out of the camp ahead of the advancing Soviet
army. The forced march was arduous. Many died of disease, exposure
and exhaustion. Mr.
FRIDAY survived by stealing frozen beets
and potatoes from farmer's fields. He would later remember the
only warm night of the march was spent in a barn, where he snuggled
overnight with a cow. Mr.
FRIDAY was at last liberated by the
Soviets in April.
He returned to England in May, where, as recounted in the 1992
book, The Evaders, he prepared a statement, the brevity of which
perfectly captured his sense of the dramatic events. "Took off
from Middleton St. George. Do not remember briefing or takeoff.
First thing I remember is coming to in a hospital in Amiens."
Only later did he learn what happened aboard the Lancaster. As
the bomber crashed, the port wing struck a tree, causing the
plane to veer violently to the left. The force freed Mr.
BROPHY
from his turret prison and he landed against a tree, far away
from the burning wreckage. He had survived.
Mr. MYNARSKI, the
son of Polish immigrants and a leather worker
in civilian life, was not as fortunate. He was found by the French,
but was so badly burned that he soon died from his injuries.
He was 27.
The other crewmen, including Mr.
BROPHY, evaded capture with
the assistance of French civilians.
John William
FRIDAY was the third son born to a pharmacist in
Port Arthur, Ontario, on December 21, 1921. He graduated from
Port Arthur Collegiate Institute before joining the Royal Canadian
Air Force in 1942. He was demobilized with the rank of flying
officer. He worked as an Air Canada passenger agent for 31 years
before retiring in 1985.
In 1988, he joined his former crew mates in ceremonies marking
the dedication of a restored Lancaster at the Canadian Warplane
Heritage Museum at Mount Hope, Ontario The aircraft, which was
refurbished in the colours and markings of the crew's plane,
has been designated the
MYNARSKIMemorialLancaster.MYNARSKI's
name also graces a string of three lakes in Manitoba, as well
as a park, a school and a civic ward in his hometown of Winnipeg.
Mr. FRIDAY died of cancer in Thunder Bay, Ontario, on June 22.
He leaves Shirley (née
BISSONNETTE,) his wife of 54 years, five
children and four younger sisters. He was predeceased by two
brothers.
Mr. BROPHY, whose life he tried to save, died at age 68 at St.
Catharines, Ontario, in 1991. According to the second edition
of MYNARSKI's Lanc, Mr.
VIGARS, who saved Mr.
FRIDAY's life,
died in 1989 at Guildford, England; Mr. DE
BREYNE died at St.
Lambert,Quebec, in 1991; and, Mr.
BODIE died in Vancouver in
1994. Mr. FRIDAY's death leaves James
KELLY of Toronto as the
only survivor.

BROTT o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-10-27 published
HELLER,
IrvingH., M.D., Ph.D., (F.R.C.P.C)
Born March 26, 1926, died October 26, 2003 in Montreal. Professor
of Neurology (retired), McGill University. Beloved husband of
Anita Fochs
HELLER, father of Monica (Timothy
KAISER) and Julian
(Ronni BROTT) and grandfather of Natalie and Nicolas
KAISER,
and Jake, Alexander and Andrée
HELLER. A memorial service will
be held on Tuesday, October 28 at Mount Royal Funeral Complex
(1297 Chemin De la Forét, Outremont, Québec, H2V 2P9 (514) 279-6540)
at 1 p.m. The family will receive Friends at home on Tuesday,
October 28 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

BROUWER o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-04-12 published
'He kept a little flame of geometry alive'
Superstar University of Toronto mathematician considered himself
an artist, but his seminal work inevitably found practical applications
By Siobhan
ROBERTSSaturday,April 12, 2003 - Page F11
Widely considered the greatest classical geometer of his time
and the man who saved his discipline from near extinction, Harold
Scott MacDonald
COXETER, who died on March 31 at 96, said of
himself, with characteristic modesty, "I am like any other artist.
It just so happens that what fills my mind is shapes and numbers."
Prof. COXETER's work focused on hyperdimensional shapes, specifically
the symmetry of regular figures and polytopes. Polytopes are
geometric shapes of any number of dimensions that cannot be constructed
in the real world and can be visualized only when the eye of
the beholder possesses the necessary insight; they are most often
described mathematically and sometimes can be represented with
hypnotically intricate fine-line drawings.
"I like things that can be seen," Prof.
COXETER once remarked.
"You have to imagine a different world where these queer things
have some kind of shape."
Known as Donald (shortened from MacDonald,) Prof.
COXETER had
such a passion for his work and unrivalled elegance in constructing
and writing proofs that he motivated countless mathematicians
to pick up the antiquated discipline of geometry long after it
had been deemed passé.
John Horton
CONWAY, the Von Neumann professor of mathematics
at Princeton University, never studied under Prof.
COXETER, but
he considers himself an honorary student because of the
COXETERian
nature of his work.
"With math, what you're doing is trying to prove something and
that can get very complicated and ugly.
COXETER always manages
to do it clearly and concisely," Prof.
CONWAY said. "He kept
a little flame of geometry alive by doing such beautiful works
himself.
"I'm reminded of a quotation from Walter Pater's book The Renaissance.
He was describing art and poetry, but he talks of a small, gem-like
flame: 'To burn always with this hard, gem-like flame, to maintain
this ecstasy, is success in life.' "
Prof. COXETER's oeuvre included more than 250 papers and 12 books.
His Introduction to Geometry, published in 1961, is now considered
a classic -- it is still in print and this year is back on the
curriculum at McGill University. His Regular Polytopes is considered
by some as the modern-day addendum to Euclid's Elements. In 1957,
he published Generators and Relations for Discrete Groups, written
jointly with his PhD student and lifelong friend Willy
MOSER.
It is currently in its seventh edition.
Prof. COXETER's self-image as an artist was validated by his
Friendship with and influence on Dutch artist M. C.
ESCHER, who,
when working on his Circle Limit 3 drawings, used to say, "I'm
Coxetering today."
They met at the International Mathematical Congress in Amsterdam
in 1954 and then corresponded about their mutual interest in
repeating patterns and representations of infinity. In a letter
to his son, Mr.
ESCHER noted that a diagram sent to him by Prof.
COXETER that inspired his Circle Limit 3 prints "gave me quite
a shock."
He added that "
COXETER's hocus-pocus text is no use to me at
all.... I understand nothing, absolutely nothing of it."
While Mr. ESCHER claimed total ignorance of math, Prof.
COXETER
wrote numerous papers on the Dutchman's "intuitive geometry."
Though Prof.
COXETER did geometry for its own sake, his work
inevitably found practical application. Buckminster
FULLER encountered
his work in the construction of his geodesic domes. He later
dedicated a book to Prof.
COXETER: "By virtue of his extraordinary
life's work in mathematics, Prof.
COXETER is the geometer of
our bestirring twentieth century. [He is] the spontaneously acclaimed
terrestrial curator of the historical inventory of the science
of pattern analysis."
Prof. COXETER's work with icosohedral symmetries served as a
template of sorts in the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of the
Carbon 60 molecule. It has also proved relevant to other specialized
areas of science such as telecommunications, data mining, topology
and quasi-crystals.
In 1968, Prof.
COXETER added to his list of converts an anonymous
society of French mathematicians, the Bourbakis, who actively
and internationally sought to eradicate classical geometry from
the curriculum of math education.
"Death to Triangles, Down with Euclid!" was the Bourbaki war
cry. Prof.
COXETER's rebuttal: "Everyone is entitled to their
opinion. But the Bourbakis were sadly mistaken."
One member of the society, Pierre
CARTIER, met Prof.
COXETER
in Montreal and became enamoured of his work. Soon, he had persuaded
his fellow Bourbakis to include Prof.
COXETER's approach in their
annual publication. "An entire volume of Bourbaki was thoroughly
inspired by the work of
COXETER," said Prof.
CARTIER, a professor
at Denis Diderot University in Paris.
In the 1968 volume, Prof.
COXETER's name was writ large into
the lexicon of mathematics with the inauguration of the terms
"COXETER number," "
COXETER group" and
"COXETER graph."
These concepts describe symmetrical properties of shapes in multiple
dimensions and helped to bridge the old-fashioned classical geometry
with the more au courant and applied algebraic side of the discipline.
These concepts continue to pervade geometrical discourse, several
decades after being discovered by Prof.
COXETER.
Prof. COXETER became a serious mathematician at the relatively
late age of 14, though family folklore has it that, as a toddler,
he liked to stare at the columns of numbers in the financial
pages of his father's newspaper.
He was born into a Quaker family in Kensington, just west of
London, on February 9, 1907. His mother, Lucy
GEE, was a landscape
artist and portrait painter, and his father, Harold, was a manufacturer
of surgical instruments, though his great love was sculpting.
They had originally named their son MacDonald Scott
COXETER,
but a godparent suggested that the boy's father's name should
be added at the front. Another relative then pointed out that
H.M.S. COXETER made him sound like a ship of the royal fleet
so the names were switched around.
When Prof.
COXETER was 12, he created his own language -- "Amellaibian"
a cross between Latin and French, and filled a 126-page notebook
with information on the imaginary world where it was spoken.
But more than anything he fancied himself a composer, writing
several piano concertos, a string quartet and a fugue. His mother
took her son and his musical compositions to Gustav
HOLST.
His
advice: "Educate him first."
He was then sent to boarding school, where he met John Flinders
PETRIE, son of Egyptologist Sir Flinders
PETRIE.
The two were
passing time at the infirmary contemplating why there were only
five Platonic solids -- the cube, tetrahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron
and icosahedron. They then began visualizing what these shapes
might look like in the fourth dimension. At the age of 15, Prof.
COXETER won a school prize for an English essay on how to project
these geometric shapes into higher dimensions -- he called it
"Dimensional Analogy."
Prof. COXETER's father took his son along with his essay to meet
friend and fellow pacifist Bertrand
RUSSELL.
Mr.RUSSELL recommended
Prof. COXETER to mathematician E.H.
NEVILLE, a scout, of sorts,
for mathematics prodigies. He was impressed by Prof.
COXETER's
work but appalled by some inexcusable gaps in his mathematical
knowledge. Prof.
NEVILLE arranged for private tutelage in pursuit
of a scholarship at Cambridge. During this period, Prof.
COXETER
was forbidden from thinking in the fourth dimension, except on
Sundays.
He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1926 and was among
five students handpicked by Ludwig
WITTGENSTEIN for his philosophy
of mathematics class. During his first year at Cambridge, at
the age of 19, he discovered a new regular polyhedron that had
six hexagonal faces at each vertex.
After graduating with first-class honours in 1929, he received
his doctorate under H. F.
BAKER in 1931, winning the coveted
Smith's Prize for his thesis.
Prof. COXETER did fellowship stints back and forth between Princeton
and Cambridge for the next few years, focusing on the mathematics
of kaleidoscopes -- he had mirrors specially cut and hinged together
and carried them in velvet pouches sewn by his mother. By 1933,
he had enumerated the n-dimensional kaleidoscopes -- that is,
kaleidoscopes operating up to any number of dimensions.
The concepts that became known as
COXETER groups are the complex
algebraic equations he developed to express how many images may
be seen of any object in a kaleidoscope (he once used a paper
triangle with the word "nonsense" printed on it to track reflections).
In 1936, Prof.
COXETER was offered an assistant professorship
at the University of Toronto. He made the move shortly after
the sudden death of his father and following his marriage to
Rien BROUWER.
She was from the Netherlnds and he met her while
she was on holiday in London.
As a professor, Prof.
COXETER was known to flout set curriculum.
Ed BARBEAU, now a professor at the U of T, recalled that at the
start of his classes, Prof.
COXETER would spread out a manuscript
on the desks at the front of the room. During his lecture, he
would often pause for minutes at a time to make notes when a
student offered something that might be relevant to his work
in progress. When the work was later published, students were
pleasantly surprised to find that their suggestions had been
duly credited.
Prof. COXETER was also known to show up to class carrying a pineapple,
or a giant sunflower from his garden, demonstrating the existence
of geometric principles in nature. And he was notorious for leaping
over details, expecting students to fill in the rest.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's resident intellectual, Lister
SINCLAIR, was one of
Prof. COXETER's earliest students. He once recounted that Prof.
COXETER would "write an expression on the board and you could
see it talking to him. It was like Michelangelo walking around
a block of marble and seeing what's in there."
Asia Ivic WEISS, a professor at York University, Prof.
COXETER's
last PhD student and the only woman so honoured, describes an
incident that perfectly exemplifies Prof.
COXETER's math myopia.
Going into labour with her first child, she called him to cancel
their weekly meeting. Prof.
COXETER, who never acknowledged her
pregnancy, said not to worry, he would send over a stack of research
to keep her busy when she got home from the hospital.
Despite several offers from other universities, Prof.
COXETER
stayed at University of Toronto throughout his career.
Like his father, he was a pacifist. In 1997, he was among those
who marched a petition to the university president's office to
protest against an honorary degree being conferred on George
BUSH Sr. Prof.
COXETER recalled with disdain Robert
PRITCHARD's
telling him, "Donald, I have more important things to worry about."
After his official retirement in 1977, Prof.
COXETER continued
as a professor emeritus, making weekly visits to his office.
These subsided only in the past several months. On the weekend
before his death, he finished revisions on his final paper, which
he had delivered the previous summer in Budapest.
In his last five years, he survived a heart attack, a broken
hip (he sprung himself from the hospital early to drive to a
geometry conference in Wisconsin) and, most recently, prostate
cancer.
Considering his 96 years of vegetarianism and a strict exercise
regime, he felt betrayed by his body. "I feel like the man of
Thermopylae who doesn't do anything properly," he commented
recently after an awkward evening out, quoting nonsense poet
Edward LEAR.
Prof. COXETER died in his home, with three long last breaths,
just before bed on the last day of March.
His brain is now undergoing study at McMaster University, along
with that of Albert
EINSTEIN.
NeuroscientistSandraWITELSON
is tryng to determine whether his brain's extraordinary capacities
are associated with its structure.
Prof. COXETER met with her at the beginning of March and learned
that the atypical elements of Einstein's brain, compared with
an average brain, were symmetrical on both right and left sides.
Prof. WITELSON said she wondered whether there might be similar
findings with Prof.
COXETER's brain. "Isn't that nice," he said.
"I suppose that would indicate all my interest in symmetry was
well founded."
Prof. COXETER leaves his daughter Susan and son Edgar. His wife
died in 1999.
Siobhan ROBERTS is a Toronto writer whose biography of Donald
COXETER will be published by Penguin in 2005.